1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a shielding connector, a shielding connector system and a terminal fitting.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,702 discloses a shielding connector with a resin housing. Terminal fittings are connected individually with cores of a shielded flat cable and are inserted into the housing. The connector also has a base shell mounted on the bottom side of the housing and a lid shell mounted on the top side of the housing for shielding. The connector is assembled by mounting the base shell on the housing, then mounting an end of the flat cable in the housing, and finally mounting the lid shell. The cores of the shielded cables are connected with the corresponding terminal fittings, and the shielding shells are connected with all the shielding layers of the shielded cables on the completely assembled connector. Thus, shielding effects, such as removal of radiation noise, can be obtained.
The housing and the shielding shells of the above-described connector are made thin to meet a demand for the miniaturization. Thus, the housing and the shielding shells separately are weak. The housing and the shielding shells of the above-described connector are separate parts and are not in close contact with each other. Thus, a load may be exerted on the housing or one of the shield components, and may cause a deformation. Further, assembly of the housing and the shielding shells takes a long time.
Another shielded connector is shown in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2001/0036767 A1, and a rear part of that connector is shown in FIG. 22 herein. The connector of FIG. 22 is used with a flat cable 100 formed into a strip by applying a film to a plurality of side-by-side shielded cables 101. Shielding layers 102 of the shielded cables 101 are soldered to a pair of electrically conductive plates to define a shorting element 103 secured at an end of the flat cable 100. Cores (not shown) of the respective shielded cables 101 are exposed before the shorting element 103. The shorting element 103 is held in a housing 104 of the connector, and the cores of the respective shielded cables 101 are connected individually with terminal fittings (not shown) held in the housing 104. A shielding shell 105 is mounted to and covers the housing 104. The shielding shell 105 is connected with the shielding layers 102 of the cables 101 via the shorting element 103, and achieves shielding effects, such as removal of radiation noise. The shielded cables 101 are held tightly between an upper wall 105A of the shielding shell 105 and a rear wall 104A of the housing 104. Thus, a force in the thickness direction of the flat cable 100 will not be transferred to the portion S of the flat cable 100 where the shorting element 103 is secured.
The housing 104 and the shielding shell 105 are made thin to meet a demand for miniaturization. Thus, a pulling force in the thickness direction of the wire could deform the housing 104 and/or the shielding shell 105 sufficiently to cut the shielded cables 101 at the portions S adjacent the shorting element 103. Further, a pulling force in the thickness direction of the flat cable 100 could press the shielded cables 101 against the corners of the housing 104 and the shielding shell 105 and hence could damage the shielded cables 101.
A known shielding connector system is shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-283710. This system has a plug-side connector with a housing, terminal fittings fixed in the housing and a plug-side shell mounted over the outer surfaces of the housing. The plug-side connector is connected to an end of a flat cable that has been formed by arranging a plurality of shielded cables side by side. Cores of the respective shielded cables are connected with the terminal fittings by soldering, and shielding layers of the shielded cables are connected with the plug-side shell. This shielding connector system also includes a receptacle-side connector with a housing and terminal fittings that are fixed in the housing. A receptacle-side shell covers the outer surfaces of the housing and connects with an earth circuit on the circuit board. The terminal fittings of both connectors are mated by connecting the plug-side connector and the receptacle-side connector. Additionally, the plug-side shell and the receptacle-side shell are connected electrically with each other when the connectors are connected. Thus, shielding effects, such as the removal of radiation noise, can be obtained.
The above-described shielding connector system has a large number of parts because shielding shells are provided in both the plug-side and receptacle-side connectors. This leads to higher production costs and more assembling steps, and there has been a demand for improvements.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,470 and FIG. 23 herein disclose a terminal fitting 100 in the form of a long, narrow flat plate. A wire-squeezing portion 101 is defined at one end of the terminal fitting 100 and has a pair of parallel arms 101A. A tab-shaped terminal connecting portion 102 is provided at the opposed end of the terminal fitting 100 and is connectable with a mating terminal fitting (not shown). The arms 101A of the wire-squeezing portion 101 are resiliently deformable toward and away from each other, and electrical connection is established by resiliently squeezing a core 103A of a wire 103 in a slit 101B between the arms 101A.
Miniaturization of a connector (not shown) requires the entire length of the terminal fitting 100 to be shortened. However, the length of the terminal fitting 100 is at least a sum of a length L1 of the wire-squeezing portion 101 and a length L2 of the terminal connecting portion 103. An attempt to shorten the arms 101A of the wire squeezing portion 101 results in insufficient resiliency.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to ensure good operability while allowing for a miniaturization.